Brown has can-do attitude for 'Dogs

After an ACL injury, the Georgia tailback says he's "faster than I was before."

Marc Weiszer

ATHENS, Ga. - Thomas Brown showed just how much strength he had regained in his surgically repaired right knee a few months ago when he snapped a strap of the knee apparatus.

"Everybody was kind of in shock about it," Brown said, "but I didn't think too much about it."

The running back has a message for Georgia fans wondering if he will have the same burst and change of direction this season as he did before he tore an anterior cruciate ligament Oct. 14 and missed the Bulldogs last six games last season.

He won't.

"I actually think I'll be quicker and faster than I was before," Brown said. "One thing I enjoyed about the recovery process is that it's kind of like starting all over from the beginning. Any kinks you may have before have been worked over and worked out. It's kind of like recharging your body and recharging your mind to react a certain way."

Brown was on the sidelines during spring practice, but he was cleared by Georgia's medical staff in the second week of May to participate fully with his teammates in offseason workouts.

"We feel like he'll be ready," Richt said. "He's strong. He's a hard worker. He wants to play. If we go through camp, and he looks tentative, and he's like 'Coach, I don't know,' if he has any hesitation at all, we'll redshirt him, but I don't see that happening at all."

Neither does Brown, who has heard from people that he would be wise to take a redshirt season. The only red shirt that Brown plans to wear is his No. 20 game-day jersey.

"Every ACL injury is different," Brown said. "I think more of it is mental than it is physical."

There's more of Brown than there was last season. He is now a chiseled 202 pounds, 17 more than last season.

"As long as I keep my speed, I'll get as big as I can," he said.

Brown flashed that speed on Georgia's longest scoring play last season, returning a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown against Tennessee. One week later, he was lost for the season when he tore his ACL on the opening kickoff of the second half against Vanderbilt.

Then there's Brown, Georgia's top rusher in 2005 who is nearing 2,000 career rushing yards but didn't exactly run wild before his injury last season.

"I'm going to go into this thing with the mind-set that Thomas is going to be there and be in the rotation and be the leader that we need him to be on the field," Bulldogs running backs coach Tony Ball said.

Said Stafford: "He's just a smart guy that knows what's going on. He's going to be a veteran for us, and he's a big-play guy."